Tennessee governor's school vouchers bill withdrawn

NASHVILLE — Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris announced late Wednesday afternoon that he and Gov. Bill Haslam have decided not to pursue their plan for a limited school-voucher bill this year because of “gamesmanship” from other senators aiming for a larger program.

That move leaves it unclear whether any voucher bill will pass the legislature before it adjourns later this month.

Vouchers allow parents to take public funding for schools with them to pay private school tuition. Haslam had proposed — after a year’s study by a special commission — a limited program initially, available to students in low-performing schools and from families with incomes that qualify them for free or discounted school lunches.

But other Senate Republicans, led by Sen. Brian Kelsey, R-Germantown, wanted a broader plan available to students at any school and with incomes almost double what the governor proposed.

Norris said the amendments to broaden the bill substantially would have been viewed as “hostile” to the bill.

“There’s no more time for anymore gamesmanship,” the Collierville Republican said. “The governor has said from the beginning that he isn’t about that. He designed what he thought fit with his education reforms very specifically and wanted to proceed accordingly, and not to play games with it, not to see it become a political football.”

Later, Kelsey acknowledged that he had three amendments prepared for the bill as it was to be considered by the Senate Education Committee’s final scheduled meeting of the year Wednesday afternoon but wasn’t sure which he would have proceeded with.

But he said there are other bills available that can be used for voucher legislation and that he will press ahead with trying to pass a voucher bill before the legislature adjourns. He said: “This was definitely a minor setback but I am fully committed to trying to pass an opportunity scholarship bill this year as I have been for eight years.”

Kelsey refused to accept blame if no voucher bill passes this year.

The chairman of the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, bristled at questions that the bill had been mishandled.

Haslam’s press secretary, David Smith, said: “The administration studied this issue for a year and brought a diverse group of stakeholders to the table throughout that process. As a result of those efforts, the governor believes his proposal fits in best with the state’s overall education reform efforts. Throughout this process, he wanted his bill to be considered on its merit and for substantially different proposals to be considered separately.”

Critics have said they’re uncomfortable with the idea of voucher programs taking money from public schools and giving it to private schools to educate children.

House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh said he hopes this year is the death of them.

“If we can get a year, certainly cooler heads will prevail, and maybe they’ll back off of this issue, because it has such a financial burden to the public schools,” said the Ripley Democrat.